{"id":1712,"date":"2024-09-18T09:01:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T09:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2024-09-18T09:01:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T09:01:09","slug":"cowboys-most-to-blame-for-week-2-loss-to-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=1712","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys most to blame for Week 2 loss to Saints.."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cowboys<\/p>\n

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Expectations are high this year for the Dallas Cowboys, and a Super Bowl victory parade is on everybody\u2019s mind. With the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season in the books, however, it is clear that America\u2019s Team has work to do. Dak Prescott needs to be better, Ezekiel Elliott and the rest of the running backs need to do more, and the\u00a0entire defense has to improve.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Cowboys are still licking their wounds after a 44-19 beatdown at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. Mike McCarthy\u2019s squad will have to turn things around quickly before their entire season falls apart. Let\u2019s take a closer look at some key players and position groups that are most to blame for the Cowboys\u2019 Week 2 disaster.<\/p>\n

Dak Prescott needs to protect the football better<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass during the first half against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field.\u00a0Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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De Prescott is supposedly a franchise quarterback, yet his performance is anything but that of a franchise signal caller and leaves quite a bit to be desired. Prescott puts up decent counting stats and the occasional highlight reel play, but he seems to always come up short when his team needs him the most, and he also frequently makes head-scratching decisions and bad plays that lead to turnovers.<\/p>\n

In this game, Prescott threw two costly interceptions that doomed the Cowboys. His team needed him to put them on his back to carry the day, and once again Prescott faltered. In a game as lopsided as this one, his two interceptions likely were not the sole contributor to the team\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n

Yet, they certainly didn\u2019t help and, if he hadn\u2019t caused these turnovers, the Cowboys would\u2019ve had more momentum and opportunities to score points. He didn\u2019t give his team the opportunities, and in fact, he took chances to score away from his team while giving the Saints momentum.<\/p>\n

This is exactly what franchise quarterbacks cannot do, and yet that is what Prescott did. It would have been slightly more forgivable if he had at least recorded three or four touchdowns to offset the interceptions, but he failed to produce.<\/p>\n

Prescott can no longer hide behind the excuse of not having a capable group of pass catchers either. Superstar wideout CeeDee Lamb is one of the best receivers in all of football, and might actually be the best. Lamb is a superstar who can get open against any coverage and give his quarterback a target to throw to. He has an incredible catch radius and is the ultimate bailout weapon. This makes him a quarterback\u2019s best friend, and Lamb was seemingly the only player on the Cowboys who didn\u2019t struggle heavily in Week 2.<\/p>\n

Yet, Lamb\u2019s presence makes Prescott\u2019s struggles even more glaring. There\u2019s simply no excuse for the kind of performance that Prescott put on film this past weekend. He\u2019ll have to watch the tape and find ways to elevate his game.<\/p>\n

The unfortunate reality is that Dak Prescott does not appear to be a legitimate franchise quarterback, and the Dallas Cowboys will struggle until they find a difference-maker at the position, whether that is Prescott unlocking a new level of play and consistency, or if a change is made.<\/p>\n

The running game was nonexistent<\/strong><\/h2>\n

An even bigger culprit than Prescott was the Cowboys\u2019 running game or lack thereof. The Cowboys got next to nothing from Ezekiel Elliott or Rico Dowdel, and that is unacceptable. While it is possible, and in fact likely that the way the game played out led to the Cowboys abandoning the run, this isn\u2019t an excuse for their lack of production on the ground.<\/p>\n

The simple fact is that if the Cowboys had produced in the running game earlier, it\u2019s unlikely that the game would\u2019ve gotten so out of control. If the game had been closer, the team wouldn\u2019t have needed to abandon the ground attack. Either way you break it down, the running backs are responsible for their own lack of production.<\/p>\n

The defense was horrendous<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As much as the offense struggled, the blame cannot be placed solely on that unit for not putting up enough points. The Saints are a good team, but they aren\u2019t one of the top five offensive units in the league. There\u2019s simply no way that the Cowboys\u2019 defense should have surrendered 40+ points.<\/p>\n

This is an absolutely embarrassing performance by the Cowboys\u2019 defense, and they will need to be significantly better sooner rather than later. If the Cowboys want to make the playoffs, they must really be able to rely on their defense to keep games close. It doesn\u2019t matter how well the offense performs if the defense is giving up points every time they\u2019re on the field and leading to high-scoring shootouts.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t doubt that Prescott and the running game at least have the ability to play at a championship level, but there are serious doubts in my mind about the team\u2019s defense, and whether that unit can elevate their performance to the required level. The Cowboys need to fix this side of the ball and they must do it fast, or else their season can blow up before it even gets started.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expectations are high this year for the Dallas Cowboys, and a Super Bowl victory parade is on everybody\u2019s mind. 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